BlackBerry ban includes roaming

According to the TRA, BlackBerry devices from abroad will be included in the service suspension it plans to impose from October 11, reports Zawya.com.

It means a potential loophole for businesses and BlackBerry users in the UAE – whereby they use devices bought and billed abroad by foreign service providers – will be closed. It also means international visitors to the UAE, including the thousands of business people traveling to and from the country, will find that the main functions of their phones won’t work.

“Roaming for BlackBerry messenger, BlackBerry email and BlackBerry web-browsing will also be suspended as of 11 October, 2010,” the TRA said. An official at Etisalat, the country’s biggest telecommunications provider, said Monday BlackBerry customers who bought their devices and Sim cards in the U.A.E. would be able to use all BlackBerry services while roaming outside the country.

“If you have a U.A.E. Sim card you can use it (the services) outside the U.A.E.,” the official, who declined to be named, said. “If you are on international roaming and are in the U.A.E. you cannot use it even if you have a U.K. Sim card.”